Site : Body

Throughout modern western history, politics has played itself out upon the female body. At various stages, women have been considered property owned by male family members, been denied education and employment opportunities, as well as other rights enjoyed by men, and been legislated against. They have had to survive within a power structure that was built by and for the benefit of men. They have had rights granted and rescinded in a way that serves as reminder of who is truly in control. On a societal level, women have to consider deeply every decision they make – how they dress, speak, act, where and when to walk or take public transportation, etc. – lest it be perceived by a man as a provocation. And when it is, women have to endure personal attacks, a level of scrutiny and judgement much more intensive than that of their male counterparts, and an unsurprising lack of support from the very institutions that created the unequal state in which they exist.

The artists in SITE : BODY – Natali Bravo-Barbee and Judit German-Heins – use historic processes – cyanotype and wet plate collodion, respectively – to interrogate personal and political issues that affect women. From intimate considerations to pervasive violence perpetrated against women, they use their own unique perspectives to shine a spotlight on issues that have received far too little attention and attitudes that have driven – and continue to drive – a subordination of women in the political, legal, and social spheres.